


Sure Fire Winners

by TheWanderingMuse



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6773659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWanderingMuse/pseuds/TheWanderingMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a Caroline-centric fic that follows her transition to a vampire and suddenly, a whole new perspective awaits her. Her mother is undecided about what to do with her only daughter being turned into a monster. Her best friend, Elena Gilbert, shares the same fate as her sire while her other best friend is a witch who is currently dating the vampire who killed her. What is her life? [HIATUS]</p><p> </p><p>A companion piece to Sweet Cruelty & its upcoming sequel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Begins immediately after Sweet Cruelty chapter 29.

Fighting to survive,

She lies there on a bed not of her making,

Alone and defenseless.

He slips inside during the night,

With one cruel intention.

One flat line,

One spark of life obliterated.

 

 

_ She had heard a noise coming from behind and spun to discover it was just wind rattling the trash cans. He appeared out of nowhere and Caroline Forbes nearly screamed. Keys clutched tightly in her fist pressed against her chest as she inhaled a surprised squeak. He had dark, mesmerizing eyes and a smirk plastered on his face. _

 

_ “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” _

 

_ “No. It’s fine. I was hoping I would see you again.” _

 

_ “I know.” _

 

_ There was a more noticeable smirk widening at her statement. She couldn’t resist grinning back. What else could she have done? If she had an inkling that he would be her downfall, she would have stayed far far away. _

 

_ “Cocky much.” _

 

_ He smirked in agreement. “Very much.” _

 

_ He ended up in her room and on her bed, pleasuring her from below. Each breath she inhaled was accompanied by a soft gasp. Her back arched in content while her toes curled. His body rose up and Caroline blinked into eyes black as coal, with dark veins creeping from beneath. Sharp fangs elongated from his teeth and goes down on her throat. _

 

_ A guttural scream tore through her like a giant shard of glass. Her pulse weakened as she felt him piercing her delicate flesh, sucking life out of her. _

 

_ She must have passed out after that, because when she came to, it was already the morning after. There, next to her, lay Damon Salvatore sound asleep. One glance at her standing mirror told her everything she needed to know. _

 

_ It wasn’t a dream. _

 

_ She had dried bloodstains on the side of her neck. _

 

_ Caroline swung her body towards the side of the bed and padded stealthily across the aging floorboards. She avoided the tiles she knew would definitely make one hell of a noise. Halfway through, she turned back to the bed and heaved a silent relief. He hadn’t moved a muscle. _

 

_ When she reached the bedroom door, her fingertips graze the copper knob and she started to turn it infuriatingly slow. It creaked. _

 

_ She glanced back and discovered the bed empty. Freaking out, her head turned the other way and she jumped back with a hitched gasp. _

 

_ “Did I say you could leave?” _

 

_ Her hands clamoured on any objects nearby the bedside table and catapulted them one by one at Damon. Some of the objects missed him completely; others came close to hitting him but all he did was duck and turn his body slightly. _

 

_ Caroline grabbed the table lamp and unplugged the cable wire, holding it threateningly above her head. _

_ “Don’t do that.” _

 

_ She smacked him with it, but it didn’t do anything. Damon just stood there, amused. There wasn’t anything else to throw. She was running out of items to chuck, except the pillow. Without thinking, she grabbed it and flung it at his head. _

 

_ “Get away from me!” _

 

_ He caught the pillow with both hands and paused to take a whiff. Dark veins emerged and fangs elongated as he advanced towards her. _

 

_ “This could have gone a lot differently, you know.” _

 

_ -A- _

 

_ “You make me crazy, you know that.” _

 

_ Damon circled around her, like a vulture to its prey. He stopped right behind her and she felt his chin resting on her left shoulder, before moving to the side of her face and kissing her cheek. The weave of quiet assurance of words covered her ears as his hands run down her arms and before latching on to her hips. _

 

_ She felt the familiar rush of penetrating pain in her scarf-covered neck but stood still. The sweet siren of calmness flowed through her veins, caressing her lungs and settled deep inside her heart, filling her with a nostalgic, contented happiness that she had no memories of having felt before. _

 

_ The next thing she remembered was finding herself lying on the grass in the middle of the field, away from the party. Alone and confused, Caroline picked herself off and dusted any stray leaves on her clothes. A glint of topaz captured her eye and she bent down to scoop the elliptical object nestled on top of a piece of black fabric. _

 

_ It was the talisman Damon gave her earlier. She was supposed to… do something but the details eluded her fuzzy memories. _

 

_ -A- _

 

_ “Go away Damon,” Caroline hissed in annoyance. _

 

_ “Remember all the fun times we used to have, before you got all boring?” He called out, much to her chagrin. _

 

_ Of course she remembered. It was great - scratch that; they had some fantastic sex. He knew all of her inside and out. Legs spread wantonly open to his pleasurable ministrations. On her hands and bended knees, the bed dipping with his added weight prowling towards her with a curled grin and a dripping hard cock. _

 

_ They did it in every imaginable crook and cranny of the boarding house. She doubted there was even a spot left untouched. However fun it had turned out to be, there was always the other parts that had made her feel used and dirtied. Like a whore. _

 

_ Damon waggled his brows at her. “What do you say, Caroline?” _

 

_ Her saviour comes in the form of kind, protective Elena Gilbert saving the day from the big bad wolf. One glare was all it took. He left them alone. All because Elena said so. _

 

_ Everybody listened to her. It wasn’t fair. She got used as a blood bag while Elena twirled around the Grill with both brothers following, never too far behind. Caroline wanted to stomp her feet on the ground like a little girl throwing a tantrum. _

 

_ But she couldn't because Elena is too selfless and compassionate. The complaint never made its way out because Caroline is, once again, floored by her best friend’s action of tying her vervain bracelet around her wrist with a gentle smile. _

 

_ “He can’t compel you again, Caroline.” _

 

_ -A- _

 

_ “What the hell is that?” _

 

_ Strapped in the passenger seat, Caroline watched a streak of fireworks cutting through the black sky, each drawing a pattern. She turned to Tyler with furrowed brows. “What’s the matter?” _

 

_ “That noise. Can’t you hear it?” _

 

_ She wasn’t sure if he was playing a joke on her. It wouldn’t be the first time; nor the last. He took one hand off the wheel to clutch the side of his head, face scrunching up in pain. _

 

_ No. Not a prank then.  _

 

_ “Tyler?” _

 

_ He yelled and the other hand that was on the steering wheel flew up suddenly. The car swerved and Caroline tried to grasp onto the wheel which proved to be rather difficult with all the swerving and Tyler’s pained howl. _

 

_ As it was, she barely had time to scream before the air bags knocked her back. The car hit a barrier and flipped. Darkness swallowed her whole. _

 

 

 

Child,

Take your first breath,

A new day begins.

A fresh page is yet to be written,

And in the silence,

Her heart beats.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter begins right after the main story, Sweet Cruelty chapter 30.

Chaos reigns in her head. Like a great rush of water, memories hit her brick after brick.

 

Why now? What changed?

 

Caroline moves to yank the colored wires running out from inside of the hospital gown, only to be stopped by a nurse bustling in through the sliding door. The lady, wearing light blue scrubs and tennis shoes, informs her that she had been in an accident and that she is in good hands.

 

If that’s the case, why does she still feel sick? It’s not the typical kind of ‘coming down with something’ sick, but a constant pang of a weird, sticky feeling coming from her gut.

 

Another nurse drops by with a tray filled with hospital breakfast food. It smells unappealing as she downs it, though the orange juice washes everything down her esophagus.

 

Something feels wrong. This strangeness unsettles her as she fidgets uncomfortably under the blanket. It’s not the sheets or the flannel. Her pillows are cushiony and she can see more people are walking in and around the waiting area.

 

It’s her stomach that is growling for more. She’s still hungry after the greek yogurt, eggs and bacon. A coppery twang wafts in through the tiny slits of the sliding door connecting against the metal frame. The tiny speck of red blood cells intertwined with leukocytes and thrombocytes ignites a burning sensation in every fibre of her core.

 

Swallowing compulsively from the excess saliva that has her mouthwatering for more, Caroline shifts in the makeshift cot. She hears the shuffling of shoes squeaking against the tiled floor; indistinct conversations made by the nurses chatting by the counter whilst filling the charts suddenly becomes clear as if she were standing right next to them.

 

Steady beats echo in her ears like different drums are playing at different tempos. They thunder in the background, causing Caroline to cover her ears with both hands. The noise doesn’t cease. Instead they only serve to batter in like crashing waves.

 

“Make it stop!”

 

She thrashes against the cot handlebars raised up by a foreign pair of arms in her line of sight. She hears scrambling footsteps pour into the room with nameless faces in white coats she can’t quite identify. Someone stabs her in the arm and Caroline feels a sense of time slowing down.

 

The beating of drums gradually fade out as she lies in the cot with a dreamy, loopy smile. The world becomes a blur and random images seem to float aimlessly around the pool of her thoughts. One image comes to her, unfolding itself as though she was watching it in low resolution.

 

Right opposite her room and with a clear vantage point, Caroline sees a bald patient sitting on the bed, staring back at her with fear in his eyes. He coughs and splutters specks of blood. Red thick blots drip from bloodstained lips and fingers, splashing onto the hospital gown and sheets, staining them with color.

 

Confusion blossoms in her heart as the scent of blood disperses from the confines of the room. In moments, she acquiesces to the soft mattress and the warmth of the sheets. Her eyes flutter shut and she retreats into the wallowing blackness.

 

 

 

Contrite and relieved smiles greet Caroline when she comes to. Her friends are present with her mother, with the exception of Elena and Bonnie. She dismisses the thought of being abandoned. They’re both probably busy, she tells herself.

 

The doctors are astonished that she had made a full recovery during the night. She doesn’t miss one of the doctors frowning at the charts and then forcing a thin smile at her mother, before slipping away. Discharge papers get signed whilst a clear plastic bag of clothes are handed back to her.

 

She excuses herself into the bathroom to change into yesterday’s attire. A thin bracelet of simple twine slips out in between her fingers and floats  it to the ground. She sees it so clearly without needing to squint.

 

Her hand catches it in mid air as time slows down in this moment. Elena’s vervain bracelet tingles uncomfortably in her open palm. She shoves it into her purse instead and focuses on smoothing invisible wrinkles off her dress.

 

_ It’s nothing. Just me and my paranoia. _

 

 

 

Dread creeps down Caroline’s spine like a careful spider leaving a trail of silk. She can feel its feet on her skin, descending until she is frozen to the spot. Her mother unlocks the front door and steps inside. Matt passes her by, tossing her an encouraging smile as he hefts a carton of groceries and some stuff from the trunk.

 

Caroline watches the pair working in sync as they tidy up the living room. She puts one foot in front of the other and keeps going until the entrance is within reach. Her foot collides into an invisible barrier. There is an odd shimmer preventing her from entering.

 

She is trapped.

 

No way in.

 

Her stomach is full of lead; her feet are set in concrete; her mind is worryingly blank.

 

“Why are you still standing there, honey? I know the place is really messy and not to your standards. It’s just been a few crazy nights so I haven’t had the time to clean...”

 

Her mother’s rambling washes over her, placing a sense of calmness amidst the troubled thoughts. Caroline forces a strained smile and glances up at the sky from behind. Although there are clouds, she could still see the sun shining brighter than she ever knows.

 

“Are you waiting for an invite, Care? Come on in,” her mother states in exasperation.

 

Experimentally, Caroline flexes her foot towards the unknown force and lands firmly past the threshold. Whatever was blocking her from entering vanishes like magic.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

 

She shakes her head. 

 

“Just tired.”

 

Because telling her mother the alternative would just turn disastrous.

 

 

 

No matter the distance, her attraction of blood remains constant. Caroline doesn’t bother fighting against the pull as she towers over her victim in the devastatingly empty parking lot. She hears the sweet music of his heartbeat singing in her ears and revels in the beautiful rhythm.

 

Elongated fangs rip his carotid into two splices, allowing the gushing blood to flow like water from a garden hose in a steady but dying tempo. She never felt so alive. It was certainly better than one more puff.

 

The wind runs its icy fingers through her hair as she grins through bloodstained lips. This is where she is supposed to be; not hiding in her room feeling sorry for herself. 

 

They’d come looking for her soon, but for now it was just her, the wind, and the spilled pool of scarlet under the street lamps.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet Cruelty chapter 31 takes place alongside this chapter.

“Stay away from him, you bitch!”

 

An unseen force knocks her off her feet and sends her crashing into the bricked wall. Caroline throws her head back and snarls at the intruder. This human radiates strength yet there is a draft of fear coming from the dark-skinned brunette. The darkness creeps up to her, whispering of sweet unbridled temptation and power.

 

Struggling to regain her stance, Caroline picks up a set of familiar footsteps approaching and a velvety voice that could only belong to that one person. “Stay back, Bon Bon. I’ll handle it. It looks like a stray vampire's wandered to town.”

 

It’s difficult to stand when the human - witch has her in some sort of bind. Cold fingers grab fistfuls of hair, easily hauling her up. “Lady, you just picked the wrong town to mess with.”

 

Caroline straightens up and shoves Damon away in a burst of strength. “No, you did that. What’s wrong, Damon?” She mocks at his gobsmacked expression. “Cat got your tongue?”

 

“Caroline?”

 

Her head turns and she blinks in confusion. “Bonnie?”

 

Her friend just stares at her in shock. “How- how are you a… That’s- that’s impossible.”

 

That’s the problem, isn’t it? Everything is theoretically impossible until it is achieved. It sinks into her brain before she remembers Damon calling Bonnie ‘Bon Bon.’ Her eyes dart between them with increasing suspicion. 

 

Bonnie and Damon. 

 

Damon and Bonnie. Together.

 

Why? Why was the world against her? It wasn’t fair. How could Bonnie turn her back and date the one person who compelled her and used her whilst still being chummy with her mother. She hated him and Bonnie knew it.

 

Her lips curl cruelly as Caroline glares at Damon whose expression has turned towards more of annoyance. “Ask him. Your boyfriend smothered me with a pillow. How rude.”

 

_ You slashed at me with betrayal. I’ll parry with vengeance.  _

 

She watches the scene unfold with a dark thirst of spite. Her chin juts out as she looks down at Damon, giving him her best condescending glare.

 

“You killed her?!”

 

“Ookay. Technically, Blondie’s still alive and breathing. She’s just a bit undead.”

 

“But she’s… a vampire!”

 

“Uh-uhh. That- that wasn’t me. Bon, what are you doing?!”

 

It has to be the first time Caroline has actually seen Bonnie in action. She hears chanting and turns her head to see a hose unhinging from the nearby tap, spewing water all over the parking lot and all over Damon, effectively soaking him.

 

“What the he-,” Caroline begins and cuts herself off at the sound of sparks and a sudden burst of flames spring up from the line of water, igniting the pavement.

 

She takes two hasty steps back away and yells at her best friend. “Give a girl a heads up, will ya?”

 

As soon as the words fly out of her mouth, a sudden burst of fire heads towards her in alarming speed. She yelps and moves away, nearly tripping over her own two feet. “Bonnie, make it stop!”

 

“I can’t- I can’t stop the fire,” her best friend splutters, jumping away from a stray spark.

 

Trapped between the line of flames and the side of the car, Caroline could only watch the fire spread in unpredictable bursts, growing in size and direction. “Why does it have to be fire?” She mutters, throwing up her arms defensively to block her face from the fire.

 

Some of the sparks explode randomly, heading straight for Damon who backs away immediately, patting the flames out from his jacket. “Damn it, Bonnie! This is your fault, Forbes!”

 

Caroline stares at him in a mixture of anger and disbelief. “How is this my fault? You killed me! You make her stop!”

 

“No shit! If I could, we wouldn’t be stuck here putting out fires,” Damon hollers from the other end. “Your mother tried to kill me, thereby making it your fault.”

 

_ Really?! He was actually going there. _

 

“Seriously.”

 

The fire vanishes all of a sudden, leaving behind the trail of water pooled from the hose. Not taking any chances, Caroline gingerly jumps over the thin streak of water and glances around. Bonnie lies on the ground, unconscious while her head is propped up by the other Salvatore brother.

 

“If it isn’t the heroic dear brother saving the town once again,” Damon says from behind her.

 

“What did you do?”

 

Stefan replies, “I knocked her out. She’ll be fine.” 

 

He frowns at her and Caroline realizes she could feel dried blood crusting her mouth and chin.

 

“You transitioned. How?” Stefan looks at her and then looks past her, his jaw clenching. 

 

“You turned her into a vampire.” 

 

She could hear disappointment etching behind Stefan’s words.

 

“Not you too. She was supposed to stay dead. I didn’t turn her,” Damon growls in annoyance.

 

“And I’m supposed to what, just believe you’re the innocent party here?” Stefan retorts.

 

“Yes, Stefan. I thought we’re brothers. You’re supposed to be on my side,” Damon bemoans, throwing his hands up dramatically. “Think about it. Why would I want to turn Miss Meryl Streep into a freaking vampire when I wanted her dead in the first place?!”

 

The younger brother turns his gaze onto her, marring his expression in a mixture of confusion and skepticism. “Caroline, what do you last remember?”

 

She folds her arms and fixates a glare. “Damon killing me.”

 

As patient as ever, Stefan coaxes her softly whilst putting a hand on Damon’s shoulder. “Do you remember anything before that?”

 

“I remember… waking up in a hospital. Everything hurts. There’s something wrong with my face,” Caroline gasps and squeezes her eyes shut. 

 

She could feel Stefan quieting Damon as he holds her in a comforting embrace. “I know. Hey, look at me. Everything’s going to be okay.”

 

“No, she’s not!”

 

“Just ignore him, Caroline. Focus on me.”

 

Caroline wills herself to look at him and she sees the dark veins appearing on his as well. “When you feel the blood rushing, you tell yourself you’re going to get through it. That you’re strong enough.”

 

_ I’m not strong. I’m weak and shallow. Nobody wants me.   _

 

Her head shakes from side to side but he doesn’t stop. “Yes, you are. No matter how good it feels, to give yourself over to it. You fight it off. You bury it,” Stefan finishes.

 

She can hear Damon’s scathing voice in the background. “You’re a vampire now. You should learn to be like one. Give in to it, Blondie. Don’t listen to him.”

 

“Shut up Damon! She needs control.”

 

“She needs to die! And I will finish what I started.”

 

_ He’s really going to kill me. I’m a monster. I shouldn’t be allowed to live, but I don’t want to die.  _

 

The thoughts accelerate through her head like a freight train. She wants them to slow down so she can breathe but they won’t. Her breaths come out in short gasps. Her heart hammers inside her rib cage as though it belongs to a rabbit running for its skin.

 

CRACK.

 

Caroline hears a pained groan and low cursing, causing her to break away from the cycle of panic encircling her senses. The stake that Damon was going to use on her, has lodged itself embedded in Damon’s upper back that looks too close to his heart. Stefan is at her side instantly, helping her up and towards the carnival.

 

_ No. I can’t go in there. I'll kill them. _

 

“What about Bonnie? We can’t leave her here,” Caroline finds herself saying.

 

“She’ll be fine. She’s not the one he’s after,” Stefan promises and blurs her away from the parking lot to somewhere quieter. They find a relatively empty picnic table and he sits her down on the bench.

 

“We should be safe here. Caroline, I need to know. Who else was with you that night?”

 

His brow furrows in concentration as she begins listing down the list of names that were there. When she mentions she vaguely recalls Elena dropping by, his expression takes on a look of realization. “That wasn’t Elena. It was Katherine all along.”

 

Caroline raises an eyebrow. “Of course it was Elena. I know what my best friend looks like. Who’s Katherine?” 


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing makes sense to Caroline as an outpour of word filled with sentences flow out of Stefan’s lips. He gives up eventually to her arched brow, especially reserved for her witchy mojo best friend. It isn’t until Caroline hurries off after Stefan with a sharp burst of superhuman speed; the wind roaring at her suddenly keen hearing and her perfect eyesight that allows her to make a side step around the thin dark tree trunk. Without it, she would have probably hit it smack on and Damon would have a field day if he heard.

 

“What the-” Caroline starts and nearly stops inches short of colliding into an immovable being. She peeks around Stefan and then she sees Her back-hugging her best friend who looks embarrassed at being caught red-handed. Like the time they went to check out the old Fells church even after it was sanctioned due to its unstable foundation. A patrolling officer recognized her and their parents were called to the station; they had been grounded for weeks.

 

This oddly familiar impostor impersonating her best friend - Caroline had seen her before but she can’t put a name to it - bares a blinding white set of teeth akin to a wolf hiding in sheep’s clothing. “Oh this is so lovely. The whole Scooby gang is here.”

 

“Elena! You have a twin sister and you didn’t bother to tell us?!!”

 

“She’s a vampire, Care.”

 

The befuddlement fog lifts up from the corners of her brain and everything that Stefan was rambling away about; it all makes sense now. But it frustrates her that Elena Gilbert was once again, special, in ways Caroline Forbes would never be able to achieve.

 

It hits her at the right moment and she can’t help but blurt, “Oh my god. You’re her. At the grill. You were behaving so… un-Elena-like.”

 

She remembers entering the grill with Matt and Tyler in tow. They had played a couple rounds of pool and Elena had been kissing Damon in the booth; a bit too enthusiastically for Caroline to stomach. She had stormed off towards them in jealousy. The Salvatores didn’t want her; weren't interested in her. They were both too enchanted with Elena. She knows now that that wasn't the case. It was this vampire that was far prettier than her best friend. She has the brothers trailing after her like lost puppies.

 

This is also the same vampire who apparently saved her life that very night; whose blood regenerated her own blood cells into a frenzy that put the best doctors scratching their heads at her sudden miraculous recovery.

 

And then Bonnie turns to her with an incredulous look. “You knew?”

 

Caroline back-pedals quickly, fearing for her life for the second time that night that she might have said something far too soon. She hates it when Elena has to come to her rescue; the brunette darting out towards her, only to be bodily yanked back by her vampire twin- Katherine.

 

“Get back. It’s not safe. She’s one of us now,” Katherine scolds, angling herself in front of Elena who stares back at her with an alarmed expression.

 

“I don’t understand. How do you know?”

 

“Because I only hear two sets of heart beats,” Katherine snaps to Elena’s frown.

 

* * *

 

If the shouts were visible, they’d be reaching over the air, strangling the life from Caroline. The verbal argument rises with each hiss, spit flying from both directions - Damon vs Katherine, with Stefan attempting to play mediator. Bonnie stands near Damon’s side, back stiff and jaw taut. Elena looks like she wants to help but every time she attempts to get around, it’s like her vampire clone knows and mirrors her movement without looking, blocking and angling her body whilst tearing through Damon’s verbatim.  

 

Apparently, there’s an unsaid rule of thumb when turning someone into a vampire. The one who usually sired the human is responsible for said vampire. Her case is, well, a little bit vexing.

 

“It was never my intention to turn Blondie into a vampire,” Katherine points out smugly. “You killed her. Failed as most of your half-baked plans do. You teach her.”

 

“Teach her?! No way! I’m not teaching her.”

 

Stefan butts in, “Oh, I agree with him on this one.”  The look on everyone’s faces forces him to continue; arms raised placatingly. “He’s not a good teacher. Look where it got Vicki.”

 

“Vicki? Vicki Donavan? Matt’s sister. They said she left town.”

 

“You’re more gullible than I thought.” Damon bites off with a sneer, only to be cut off by a slurred yell.

 

“You killed my sister?!”

 

It’s Matt; stumbling and pointing a shaking finger at Damon, one hand loosely holding a bottle of beer. In the next minute, he is compelled to forget the last few minutes and gets sent away. Bonnie leaves with him; not before shooting a dark glare at Damon who returns a glowering look at Stefan.

 

Stefan steps forward. “How about I teach her since you two can’t agree?”

 

“Hell no!”

 

“We don’t need another Ripper in town.” Katherine rolls her eyes hard at Stefan’s proposal.

 

“Okay. Do you have a better idea?”

 

Damon shrugs and blurs off into the trees, not without tossing back a sarcastic retort. “Nope. She’s not my problem anymore if you turn her into a raging homicidal psychopath.”

 

Katherine barely gives her a glance before looping a firm arm around Elena’s. “Whatever. This is boring. You’re ruining my night. Do what you want, Stefan.” She inspects her nails and sniffs. “She won’t last one day as a vampire.”

 

Ignoring Elena’s verbal protests, Caroline watches her whisk Elena away into the night, leaving just the two of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set alongside Sweet Cruelty chapter 33 and right before chapter 34, if you're interested...

“Wise skepticism is the first attribute of a good critic.” - James Russell Lowell

 

In her defense, Caroline had every right to be skeptical of Bonnie; newly fledging witch, making her a daylight ring. She did witnessed her best friend losing her cool and giving into anger some hours ago. She turned a stream of water jets to a fiery burst of flames threatening to turn her into ashes. 

 

Caroline scoots slightly back and further away, eyes distrustful of the cheap knock-off ring that one easily gets in a thrifty store, lying harmlessly on her bed. She promises fervently to Bonnie, and a solemn nod is exchanged between her and Stefan. She half-expects Bonnie to ask for a candle but there’s only soft mumbling on Bonnie’s end and then nothing. Her eyebrow goes higher and she can’t help herself after putting on the ring that still weighs the same as before. 

 

“That’s it? Nothing witchy happened. No flickering lights; no gusts of wind? Have you ever done this before?!”

 

She hears her name being called as a warning with a tinge of amusement tugged at the edge of his lips. 

 

_ Does he think this is funny? This is my life here and it’s not going to end with me being turned into a crisp. _

 

“I just wanna make sure it works!” Without any warning, the curtains are drawn back and Caroline is blanketed by the warm stream of sunlight. 

 

It’s only up to this moment that Caroline feels like she’s being a child, stopping short of pulling a tantrum and slamming her fist against the mattress. 

 

“She’s all yours,” Bonnie comments with an exasperated sigh and eye-rolling as she makes to exit the room and her house. Caroline gets this feeling of being this thing that gets handed over to the next responsible person in the room.

 

 

Nobody wants her. Nobody is in her corner. Nobody wants to teach her the ropes except Stefan Salvatore. He’s just so calm and patient with her endless questions and psycho babbles as they traipse through the forest. The fact that he isn’t saying anything or trying to make any small talk with her; just being present makes her feel normal. And bad.

 

She lets out a squeak and avoids a puddle of yuck between a fallen log and muddy grass patch. “What do I do when I see a rabbit?”

 

“Chase it, catch it, feed on it.” There it is. His patience is strong as ever. Like Elena’s.

 

_ But bunnies are soft, fluffy white, harmless creatures that make you want to take them home.  _

 

“Isn’t killing cute defenseless animals, the first step in becoming a serial killer?”

 

There’s a strange glint in his eyes when he gives her an appraising look; and then it’s gone. What’s really weird is that there is a tiny lilt of deadpan humor in his voice. “Well, you sort of skipped serial killer and went straight for vampire. Caroline, if you’re not serious about all of this, I think you should tell me.”

 

“No, I am. Look, I swear that I’m okay? But it’s just… I haven’t been in the sun for days and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun and Matt is there! And he finally told me that he loved me but I’ve been blowing him off and now you want me to eat bunnies and I’m kind of freaking out, okay?!”

 

She pouts at his half chuckle, his forest green eyes twinkling in mirth. “And now, you’re laughing at me.”

 

“No, no, I’m not laughing. None of this is funny, trust me. It’s just that…”

 

_ Liar. _ The word sneaks up on Caroline as she folds her arms crossly. “What?!”

 

“When someone becomes a vampire, all of their natural behaviors get sort of amplified.”

 

Now she feels lost and so, so confused. He takes a step closer whilst explaining. “I mean… as a human, I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting, I felt their pain and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it. As a vampire, all of that got magnified.”

 

“So you’re saying that now, I’m basically an insecure, neurotic control freak… on crack?”

 

He doesn’t reply but points his finger in the far distance. “Bunny.”

 

Caroline turns, makes a face, and speeds towards it, yelling “Right. Chase it. I’m on it.”

 

It’s really too easy and simple as she stares hard and long into the fluffy white creature wriggling in her arms and letting out an awful high-pitched shrill. It bites her fingers and she feels pain growing in between her teeth. She bites down on the still shrieking lithe banshee and the sound fades as she drinks.

 

Stefan joins her and they shoot into the forest together hunting like a duo pack. She takes another two and drains them off in a smooth flourish. A small trickle of blood dribbles down her chin and falls onto her shirt. Frowning at the stain, she dimly recalls the echo of a memory of the ground stained red with her standing over him, watching the blood pool at her feet. Its blood isn’t as sweet and savory as that of a human, but it curbs her thirst for now.

 

A dark blur comes speeding towards Caroline like a bullet train, colliding painfully into her shoulder and throwing her off course.

 

“Oww!!”

 

“Ooof! What the hell, Forbes?!” 

 

Damon glares at her, rubbing at his shoulder with his other hand. His leather jacket is riddled with bullet holes and the sleeves are ripped. Turning her head, she can hear frantic footsteps rushing towards them… from the direction of the swimming hole of carefree laughter and excited voices. 

 

“Stefan, we need to go. Now.”

 

“What’s going on, Damon?” Caroline pushes against the support of a pine tree that she had crashed into. She winces upon hearing the tiny creaks coming from the tree trunk itself, splintering inside the stem.  _ I really need to work on my strength later. _

 

Stefan goes around to her and offers a hand to her. It’s a sweet gesture and she is grateful for that, but right now, Caroline doesn’t want it. She doesn’t want to be seen as weak, especially not in front of Damon Salvatore. She ignores the offered hand and rights herself, staggering forward as she did so.

 

“What did you do now?” The statement gets directed back to the other brother who attempts to shrug but groans instead. His hand reaches to the back of his neck and extracts a small piece of wooden bullet, blood coating the surface.

 

“I didn’t do anything this time. The Sheriff showed up with a bunch of her goons to patrol the area. Saw me. Started yelling and shooting. So I ran. Ugh, oh my back. Ow.”

 

“They’re coming. C’mon Caroline,” says Stefan, eloquent as ever in stating the obvious. However, Damon has other ideas and moves to stand in between them.

 

“Noo. What? She’s not- You’re not coming with us,” Damon addresses her and then cocks his head to one side. She can hear her mother relaying orders to her team, static voices coming from the dispatch comms, rushing stomps of fallen leaves and twigs breaking, and the splashes of water puddles made by frantic feet. 

 

“In fact, you’re the only one who can help us.”

 

He touches her shoulder at the last statement, causing her to squint in confusion. She wants to mouth ‘how?’ but a sharp click of the gun’s chamber from the southeast distracts her for a second. It takes only one second for everything to go horribly, horribly wrong.

 

Caroline finds herself being locked in a vice like choke hold. A cold, strong hand clamps down on the base of her throat whilst the other reaches around to hold her head in place. She freezes in fear; and in front of her, she sees her mom panicking. The gun trembles in her hands and Caroline can see the fear etched across her features. She knows the quandary of the situation she had unwittingly put herself and her mother into.

 

“Let her go, Damon. We can work this out. Let my daughter go.”

 

Her eyes dart towards Stefan, whose arms are raised high in the air as he too tries to reason with Damon.

 

“We crossed that road a while ago, Liz. We let her go now. Tomorrow you’ll hunt us down. You should have taken the deal.”

 

A voice rings out from the circle of the cadets. “We don’t take orders from freaks like you.”

 

“Stand down, Johnson. That’s an order,” rings her mother’s authoritative voice, loud and clear. Desperation coloring the undertone of the command.

 

Oh, this is bad. Really bad. Damon’s holding his ground. Stefan’s over there, trying to be diplomatic but the team is refusing to budge. And then there’s the odd feeling that Caroline can’t quite shake off… this cold sense of dread that Damon is waiting for a cue.

 

The thing is she knows she can easily break out of the choke hold Damon has her in but then everyone including her mother would know that she was abnormal. She has the same supernatural strength and speed as Damon. On the other hand, if she plays along, she can keep her secret a little longer. 

 

However, Damon’s like an unpredictable magic ball. You never know what to expect because unlike Stefan, he doesn’t give a damn.

 

A slight shift slices through the air and strikes into Stefan’s upper torso with a silent whoosh. Two more bullets coming from an unknown direction cuts the silence and deftly lands on its target, one piercing his side torso while the other punctures his temple. 

 

More bullets whiz past her ear and it feels like everyone including herself begins moving in slow-motion. She can hear her mother shouting ‘hold your fire; I said stand down,’ the team of cadets surrounding them have dispersed into the forest, scattering and ducking behind trees for safety and out of the crossfires.

 

She feels a loud crick and sharp pain blossoms in her neck, whilst the hands restraining her vanish. Her legs crumple as she falls. Down, down she goes. Her vision fades to black and all Caroline remembers is her mother darting forward, into the foray of whizzing bullets, slicing the air above her paralyzed body. 

 

Into danger. 

 

For her.

 

 

 

It is several hours later when Caroline shudders to a start at the sounds of deflated, choking sobs in her vicinity. Warm fingers graze her right wrist and soft hands cradle her hand. A sloppy, wet kiss presses against the back of her hand. A voice - familiar and aching in sorrow - tears her back to the world of the living. 

 

“Oh Caroline. This is all my fault. Please come back. Please. I love you, baby. My baby girl.”

 

Caroline blinks awake and watches her once strong and very brave, mother fall apart for the first time. Her shoulders shake violently whilst streaks of tears run down her ashen face, still hidden in both their hands. Her blonde short mane is disheveled and unkempt as though the older woman had run her fingers through, over and over again.

 

“Hi mom.”

 

She vague a guess from the strong, sharp disinfectant permeating the room, that she’s lying on a hard, unforgiving steel gurney. She’s in a mortuary, which means people already think she’s dead. Her life is ruined.

 

Her mother’s head snaps up and she stares widely, disbelieving. Her jaw drops open and the warm, comforting hands wrench out of her cold, dead fingers. She claps a hand over her mouth and backs away from the gurney.

 

From her.

 

“It’s me. It’s Caroline. I-I’m still… h-here. Not dead. I-I mean, I did… d-die for a while.” Caroline backpedals, sitting up and quickly clutching the white plastic cover over her nakedness. Heat creeps up to her cheeks as her eyes scan for her clothes.

 

“No. No, no. It can’t be. H-how c-c-can you be- The doctors saved you. You w-were f-fine.”

 

“I was healed by vampire’s blood. That’s why I could recover so quickly. I can explain everything later, mom. Can we get out of here please? Do you know where my clothes are?”

 

However, her mother just backs away until she hits the wall and slides down bonelessly, hugging herself with her bent knees against her chest. 

 

Unfocused eyes stare right past Caroline as she mourns, “You’re… one of them. Oh God. My baby girl’s gone. She’s gone.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

Caroline remembers things in flashes, broken images skittering behind her eyelids; snatches of truth ringing behind her ears.

 

She remembers the cold, unyielding terror of leaving her mother behind while dashing out of the mortuary in just a white sheet tightly wrapped around her bodice and a flimsy brown tag attached with a string of thin twine tied around her big toe.

 

Her feet pounce across the ruthless cement, tiny bits of gravel lodge between the crook of her toes. The front door nearly bends and gives way under her grip. She feels cold; not from the harsh biting of chill.

 

She can’t stay. Her mother lives here too.

 

Caroline dresses for comfort, trembling fingers fumble with the buttons and zippers; she forgoes heels for sneakers. She packs a duffel, shoving clothes in without a care. She needs to be gone before her mother returns. She tells herself she’s running from her mother to spare her the agony of putting down her only daughter.

 

She finds herself standing in front of the boarding house, lost and unsure. It is Stefan who invites her inside, much to Damon’s displeasure.

 

On the far side of the room, Caroline catches sight of _her_ watching, curious hazel eyes holding no animosity. It is Stefan who shuffles her a guest room; Stefan who tells her everything will work out in the end. His optimism shines a tiny ray of light into the darkness that seems to come close to engulfing her.

 

It makes her hope; and oh, hope can be such a dangerous thing.

 

She survives the remainder of the night without Damon trying to stake her in her sleep. It gives her a tiny burst of hope, that maybe not everything is lost. There’s a skip in her steps as she bounces through the hallway, humming quietly to herself.

 

She spies the red carry-on suitcase lying against the front doorstep, and she falters. She hears Damon protesting at Katherine’s heels, only to be ignored out rightly. Doubt suddenly shoots through her like a piercing arrow destroying her brightness.

 

“It’s a full house,” her sire complains, taking her luggage and disappearing into the light.

 

“Why do you care? It’s not like you’re here half the time!” Damon yells back against the loud roaring of the engine and screeching of tires peeling out of the driveway.

 

The door slams shut with a bang, the light snuffs out and as he glares at her, Caroline can feel doubt creeping in. Doubt about her existence. Doubt about her hasty decision to stay. She had been hoping for a friendly face, even if that face came from a complete stranger who wanted nothing to do with her.

 

Caroline attends school by herself. Stefan explains that with the Sheriff aware of what she was, they would be forced to keep a low profile for now, to avoid being driven out or even worse, exterminated. Has the news of her death reached her social life yet? Every slow step she takes forwards feels like three steps backwards.

 

Worry grows like a corrupted, malicious, and perfidy tree. Its branches twist around her throat as she shuffles toward the school lockers and nobody takes a second look at her. They’re full of smiles and oblivious chatter that makes her want to laugh in hysteria. They don’t know.

 

She gets a peck on her cheek by sweet Matt, a nod and even a smile from Tyler. But Bonnie… all her best friend does is blink and stare from across the hall, before her lip curves downwards as she turns away.

 

* * *

 

Caroline plops down a little too hard on one of the long lunch benches, and she hears it creak in protest. She's too tired to care. She had just spent one of her free periods, sneaking out of the school’s back doors and sprinting toward the forest to feed.

 

When she returns, a couple of oddities spring out, like water leaks from a cracking pipe that is now her life. There are patrols of plainclothes policemen loitering around the school entrance and the main hallway.

 

_Are they looking for me?_

 

Not taking any chances, Caroline takes the long way to the cafeteria using her human speed and shuffling through the hungry, chattering horde.

 

She finds him waving a floppy pizza around, dripping oil all over the table. She says the first thing that comes to mind - or rather, within hearing shot.

 

“Matt!! You would never guess who's passing by in town this week, and I've got tickets.”

 

Okay, she doesn't actually have them on hand. She would have to bypass some legal technicalities and worm themselves through. Anyways, Matt doesn't need to know all that.

 

She halts mid-sentence and sees _her_ staring back. With kind eyes despite the heavy makeup clouding it. Katherine hasn’t bothered to check in on her since last night. In fact, the vampire hadn't cared. _She_ simply returned to the magazine, flipping the page so nonchalantly.

 

It is then when her hearing kicks in and she hears a pounding of strong, sharp staccato drum beats. A smile returns and the light shines brighter than ever.

 

“Elena? What’s with the get-up? You look very-”

 

Matt is still here and hanging onto her every word. She plasters a look and tilts her head. She loves him and she knows; she knows he's still hung up on Elena. He doesn't have to say it but it hurts all the same.

 

“Wah zer uh suhhing abut fuhkit?”

 

_Did I mention how much I adore this adorable dork?_

 

“What?”

 

His face turns cherry red, briefly mimicking a squirrel cramming nuts into its little tiny mouth.

 

_No, Caroline. Don't compare your human boyfriend to a squirrel or any kind of forest animal. He's not food._

 

She tunes back in to hear at the mention of tickets and happily answers him. “Oh. It's Jason Mraz! He’s passing through and he’s doing an impromptu live show this week. I managed to acquire a pair.”

 

_I mean I'll compel ourselves in, free of charge. No one will notice._

 

“We can go tonight!”

 

* * *

 

**Salvatore Boarding House**

 

The strong stench of alcohol assaults her sense of smell the moment she enters the boarding house. A gentle nudge closes the front door as Caroline makes her way into the foyer. There, she finds Mr. Saltzman nursing a glass of scotch whilst sitting on a leather chaise.

 

Her eyebrow arches at the surprising sight. This is a new revelation.

 

_What’s Mr. Saltzman doing here? Are they buddies?_

 

An almost quiet whoosh enters from her left peripheral and Caroline finds herself, knocked up against the hard panel of the room. A sharp stabbing pain greets her in the abdomen while Damon’s forearm locks her in place, squeezing at her throat. His breath reeks of bourbon and beer.

 

“Lesson number one - always be aware of your surroundings.”

 

She can’t move, not with the kind of force he has over her. She hates feeling so; so helpless. Old memories flood in with full force and she remembers the old Caroline Forbes panicking and babbling nonsense.

 

She faintly hears Mr. Saltzman’s lazy voice floating through the heavy tint of cloudy memories. “You… can’t teach her like that, bud.”

 

_So they are buddies. How nice._

 

Damon counters. “It’s my house. My rules. You don’t like it? There’s the door. Oh wait! You can’t leave… because Mummy knows what you are.”

 

A spike of strength shoves him away from her, and while it doesn’t send him flying to the other side of the room, he does stagger backwards, giving her a second of escape. Wind whips around her face and clothes, sparing no mercy to her hair.

 

She finds Stefan deep in the forest, after following the scent of blood and the terrifying sounds of pleas and shrieks. The area looked like it had been a battlefield. All four large tents were sprayed with bloodstains and bloodied palm prints dotted the sides. The campers - innocent people who deserved better - lay like dolls over the grass, their limbs in awkward angles, and their heads held in such a way that they couldn’t be sleeping.

 

Caroline breathes through her mouth. “Fuck!”

 

The monster within her rejoices at the sight, hissing in delight. _Smell it. Taste it, Feed._

 

Stefan - the do-gooder; the kindhearted, empathetic vampire with a conscious; the patient friend, is gone. She doesn’t recognize this; this imposter turning its head in her direction with blood-stained lips stretching from one corner to the other.

 

“Caroline! Come to join the party, have you? I’ve saved a couple for you.”

 

He turns away and places one hand at his hip while the other runs through the already disheveled hair. “Or maybe not. Their blood is just so hot, you gotta taste it. The blood just ripples under your tongue.”

 

Stefan’s look-alike makes a delighted sigh. “You just want more. Breathe into the aroma.”

 

His forest green eyes darken several shades. He unzips the last tent and drags two screaming girls clutching at each other. “Hush my lovelies. My friend is hungry.”

 

_No no no no. This is a dream._

 

Maybe she never left the premises of the boarding house and this is Damon torturing her in a dream-like landscape. This can’t be real. She has a date tonight.

 

“I- I’m not hungry.”

 

The devil-incarnate of Stefan Salvatore pulls one of the girls toward him and plants her squarely in front of him.

 

“My friend is really hungry, and she’s a very bad liar.”

* * *

  


 

**Unknown location**

 

Matt checks his phone for the sixth time in four minutes. It’s not like her to be late. He hears excited screams and music coming through the closed doors and a pair of burly bodyguards standing watch.

 

Dressed in a dark jacket and jeans, he scans the road behind him but he can’t spot her car amongst the rest of the vehicles whizzing past.

 

 _Maybe she stood you up,_ the devil on his shoulder pipes up into his ear. But Caroline had looked so cheery after the accident, Matt deduces.

 

The angel counters calmly on his other shoulder, _she’s probably running late. You did show up five minutes earlier._

 

He had wanted to be punctual because it’s Caroline. She carries her daily planner everywhere she goes, hidden in that enormous handbag she lugs around, along with every little necessity she claims she needs. Hell, she even has a small portable umbrella in there despite having clear skies.

 

Even Elena and Bonnie don’t carry that much stuff. Their handbags are smaller and more compact. But that’s Caroline. Always prepared for every tiny disaster with backup plans to rival the original ones.

 

Matt checks his phone again. No message. It was almost eight, the time of their meeting. He shoves his hands into his pockets and paces down, too aware of the pairs of watchful gazes.

 

The screams from inside sounds like they’ve gone up two octaves or so. They must be having a hell of a time. Then came the loud banging against the doors. He stops pacing and turns his head.

 

That’s... weird. Even the security guards seem to think so too.

 

The wide doors burst open to reveal throngs of people rushing out like a stampede of wild horde. Matt quickly darts aside to avoid being trampled on. The guards, however, weren’t so lucky. One gets whacked by the swinging doors and goes down immediately. The other guard was jostled in between the screaming, panicking girls clutching tightly at their necks.

 

_What… is this… madness?_

 

Curiosity burns brightly as he stupidly stumbles towards the source.

 

“Help… me… please.”

 

One of the girls staggers forwards to him - wide-eyed with brown locks flowing, reminding him briefly of Elena - has her fingers latched onto the lapels of his jacket. Her hands were smeared in the deepest hue of red.

 

_Paint? Dye? What were they doing inside?!_

 

He reacts the moment her body goes rigid and drops to the ground. He catches the girl’s limp form and his hand cradles the back of her head to find sticky goo seeping onto his palm. His hand stains with blood.

 

A deep throaty cackle catches his attention and his head whips up to find the raving lunatic responsible on the stage to be none other than Stefan Salvatore. His mouth and neck had blood smeared all over.

 

Next to him, off towards the side, he finds his date cradling the singer as she presses her wrist against the singer’s lips. Her lips and chin were coated in red too.

 

“What the fuck!?”

 

Her blue eyes grow impossibly round. “M-Matt. I- This isn’t- what it looks like.”

 

He can’t remember falling on his bum, scrambling away from the girl who won’t stop staring at him.

 

The monster disguised as their friend scoffs and grins into the microphone. “Oh bullshit. This is exactly what it looks like. Wonderful Matt. So humble and loyal. I could hear her talk about you all day, with that dreamy, breathless voice.” He lifts a finger and points at her. “Did Caroline ever tell you she’s like me?”

 

“No,” replies Matt, scrambling backwards and towards the doors.

 

_Nononono._

 

He makes a dash for the doors and Caroline appears out of nowhere, in front of him.

 

_How the fuck did she do that?_

 

He can still hear Stefan’s deep throaty laughter from behind. “I told her you can’t love a monster. It seems like I was right again.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Readers, it's been one fantastic year. Thank you to all you have kudos the story. Have a blessed Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
> 
> This chapter runs alongside Sweet Cruelty chapter 34 and 35.

“What happened to you?”

 

Caroline zeroes into the pointed fang scraping against the girl’s flesh; not yet breaking past the delicate barrier. Her heart beats erratically quick while her lips spill forth silent screams.

 

“Where are your manners? Tsk. Most people greet each other with a ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’.”

 

“Two days ago, you were teaching me how to feed on bunnies. Where is that Stefan - the kind and patient friend - I know?”

 

This impersonator lets out a low chuckle and drops the terrified girl on the ground. He points his index finger to the side of his temple. “He’s in here, demanding to be let out. I’ve seen the way he tries to teach you, my sweet canary.”

 

She stands her ground and clenches her fist, holding herself still - with her head held high as he flashes forward to close the distance between them, to stroke the contour of her cheek with a finger. He bends down and whispers into her ear, “He’s doing it all wrong. You were given a second chance at life. Seize the chance and be free. Embrace the darkness, Care.”

 

“Don’t call me that. Only friends get to call me Care.” She twists away from this Stefan and moves toward the girl trembling on the ground. “Go. Get away from here now.”

 

“She can’t leave. I didn’t give my word,” drawls Stefan as he grips the other girl’s shoulder, hauls her pliant body up and tears into her throat. “How about you and I be friends? I think we’ll get along just fine. You can start by calling me Ripper of Monterey. Oh I do love me a good ole title.”

 

“Let her go, please. She’s innocent,” pleads Caroline.

 

“Is she? I doubt that.” Stefan turns to the brunette trembling on the forest floor. “Tell me, where do your parents think you are?”

 

She answers dully, “At home. They’re on a business trip and it felt boring and depressing to stay at home. So, I planned to go camping instead with a bunch of friends.”

 

There is a dark triumphant glee in his tone as his gaze cuts through Caroline. “Not so innocent after all. Sneaking around without permission. Let’s try something, shall we? An experiment of sorts.” He clears his throat. “Extend your arm to my friend.”

 

The girl stands up and reaches out to Caroline, with an arm extended and unwavering.

 

Silent and unmoving, she waits for the next instruction.

 

“Drink.”

 

Caroline just stares at the proffered hand. She can hear the organ pumping against the rattling of the bony cage; chapped lips move with no sound escaping; the trickle of sweat beads at the top of her forehead threatening to fall.

 

“I-I can’t.”

 

“I tire of this waiting, Caroline. The quicker you do as I say, the faster the little doll can forget this awful tragedy.”

 

“You promise?”

 

At Stefan’s slight acknowledgement, Caroline ventures forward, bringing the girl’s wrist to her lips, and then piercing that delicate barrier in one swift move. A thick torrent of crimson liquid gushes out as synchronically as the beating of the girl’s heart.

 

 

**_Sweet canary, see where you’ve gone._ **

**_Locked behind glided bars,_ **

**_Trapped in a world full of obligations._ **

**_Rue to be admired, but never freed._ **

 

 

It hits the back of her throat in sporadic waves as the fluid spurts out through the ripped flesh. It must be overwhelming scent of metallic blood wafting into her nostrils that makes her feel high and float up into the clouds.

 

**_Sweet canary, see what you could have been._ **

 

The darkness within, coils around her soul, kissing her skin, shimmying up like a snake whispering temptation into her ears.

 

**_We could run this town,_ **

 

A switch lights up in the darkest core and Caroline flashes back to a recent memory of the pool of blood seeping out of her prey’s prone form and spreading to the uneven crevices of asphalt. She remembers his words thrumming against the rhythm, breaking the alluring melody, “You’re going to get through this, Caroline. You’re strong.”

 

**_Just you and me._ **

  


_((You’ve always been strong.))_

 

**_Paint it red._ **

  


_((Resist, Caroline.))_

_((You will get through this.))_

 

**_O sweet little thing, it’s time to be FLY._ **

  


_((Open your eyes.))_

 

 

Suddenly feeling sick in her stomach,  Caroline releases the limb and the girl sinks to the ground, cradling her injured wrist.

 

Stefan tuts from behind and lays his hands gently on the girl’s shoulders. He looks past her and in the darkening forest, his emerald-green eyes glint dangerously. “Did Stefan ever mentioned why he can’t drink human blood? Why he forces himself to feed on animals?”

 

“No… I- Why does it matter? I don’t know. Maybe because he’s a good person who doesn’t like to hurt people. Unlike you.”

 

He laughs and pretends to swipe a tear from his eye. “Oh Caroline, sunshine, you really… have no idea, do you? Such a delightful thing. You know, I think I understand why Damon hasn’t quite successfully kicked you out of the house yet - I mean, besides you being his girlfriend’s bestie. I’d admit… you’re the best entertainment I’ve had in decades.”

 

He becomes more serious. “I am the same person you’ve come to know. I have always been him, and he will always, always have me by his side.”

 

“This isn’t the Stefan I know. I want my friend back now.”

 

“Right now?! Right this minute?”

 

There is a flicker of seriousness in his tone and Caroline can’t tell if he’s pretending to show concern or if it’s just a part of his crazy alter ego. She nods all the same. “Yes.”

 

Stefan - the imposter - leers and his eyes glint. “If you’re sure.”

 

“I am. Quit stalling.”

 

“Oh I’m not stalling, little canary. I’m giving you a chance to think this through… because I think - I think you’ll miss me a lot more once you’ve seen the real Stefan. However, if you want me back-”

 

She shakes her head and stands her ground. “I won’t-”

 

“-You know how to reach me.”

 

* * *

 

His eyes blink and the glint disappears, replaced with bewilderment.

 

“Stefan,” Caroline breathes and watches his trembling hands cautiously, gripping the precarious girl’s shoulders. “Let the girl go.”

 

“W-what?” He casts his gaze down and she sees the nameless girl shaking in her boots, doe-eyes wide and wild, her brown locks flowing behind her back. Half a second passes and Caroline feels as though she’s staring back at an uncanny image of Elena Gilbert until the head snaps in a loud horrifying crunch and drops to the forest floor.

 

The headless body falls to the side and Caroline stands there, helpless and mortified. For once in her life, her mind goes blank. No backup plans or snappy comebacks. She stands still like a mannequin. Her gaze fixates at her ex-friend and mentor dropping to his knees,

 

When did he become an ex? Caroline doesn’t know.

 

His last words echo around the empty walls in her head and she can’t quite find the words.

 

_“You know how to reach me.”_

_“Call me Ripper of Monterey.”_

 

He drops to his knees and picks up the decapitated head by the scalp in one hand whilst the other grabs the corpse. Her eyes track his movement numbly as he props the hardening body against the tree trunk, gingerly setting the head back on.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry…”

 

She thinks about it. Caroline thinks about putting her hands over his shaking hands and telling him that this was just an accident. She thinks about comforting him as he once did with her. Thinks about the kind, caring eyes boring into her, full of understanding and patience. She thinks about it.

 

She watches the way he goes into a headspace where she can’t follow him, leaving her behind with only a shell of a person she barely knows. He stares at his hands, bloody red stains on his knuckles, underneath his nails, in his pores.

 

_“I think you’ll miss me a lot more.”_

_“Call me Ripper.”_

_“Are you sure, Caroline?”_

 

She backs up bit by bit, even stepping on a twig, but Stefan’s too far gone to notice her clumsiness. She turns and does a full sprint into the comforting darkness, with the moon shining brightly above.

 

* * *

 

She’s late. She’s fucking late to her own date. And it’s his fault for forcing her to drink and staining her dress. It’s her fault for running to him from his brother. Come to think of it, Damon; the irresponsible, was the better choice. At least he was upfront about it.

 

She barges into the only available bathroom and hastens to scrub the red away from her hands, the bar of soap threatening to crumble to pieces. She holds it together. Holds herself together. She’s strong enough to get through this.

 

A bloodcurdling scream announces its presence, shattering her thoughts. She’s out of the bathroom and into the open back doors of the concert hall in half a second. Her favorite singer, Jason Mraz, is lying on the stage floor, moving only his elbows and knees, as he attempts to get away from the center.

 

Caroline sees why. There are piles of bodies falling like a bunch of dominoes knocked neatly in a row. She dashes to the center; terrified fans scrambling to get away toward the closed front doors. “Stop!” She yells at the top of her lungs to no avail. The loud music of the singer’s new album drowns her out.

 

She catches him snacking on one of the throngs of nameless girls and yanks the victim out of his reach. The girls scuttle away whilst Stefan wipes the blood with the back of his hand. He bares his teeth and Caroline flinches, backing up a step.

 

“Stop this right now.”

 

Stefan shakes his head. “I-I can’t. There’s too many… I just - just want more.”

 

“Stefan, please… you’re strong enough to g-”

 

He takes her by surprise and growls, the tone of his voice grows more sinister and shockingly cold. “Once I start, I don’t stop. Ever.”

 

_You know how to reach me._

_Call me._

_I’m not stalling._

 

He shoves past her and this time, Caroline anticipates his next move. She can’t stop him but she can delay the inevitable.

 

She forms the word and wills it to spill forth.

 

“Ripper,” Caroline says and his body locks together, stiff and taut.

 

“You have got to stop this madness.” Caroline looks down and cradles the fallen, unconscious singer’s head. She bites into her wrist, like she’d seen Damon do several countless times, and forces her bloodied wrist into the cool, paling lips.

 

He turns his body in her direction and she can’t help but sigh in relief.

 

Stefan’s gone but the damage has already been done.


End file.
